Her bare, cinnamon-colored feet stepping softly on the stage of the Knitting Factory on Thursday, Susana Baca began her emotional show Thursday with "Toro Mata," the anthem of Afro-Peruvian music. A lot has happened since this classic tune was featured on Luaka Bop's 1995 compilation album "The Soul of Black Peru."

In this village that still bears the name of the old Santa Barbara sugar plantation, Susana Baca is trudging through a field of sweet potatoes. Not 48 hours earlier, the internationally acclaimed diva of Afro-Peruvian music returned from Paris, the last stop in her latest world tour. But on this day, she is visiting her mother's tumbledown hometown, a neglected part of Peru that is the cradle of its multiethnic history, where the descendants of black slaves and Chinese and Japanese field hands have lived together for generations, intermarried and even now continue to work the land.

September 21, 1997 | Don Heckman, Don Heckman writes about pop and jazz for The Times

Susana Baca, unheralded and largely unknown outside her native Peru, arrived on the international world music scene with startling suddenness. Her performance on the 1995 compilation album "The Soul of Black Peru" created an immediate buzz. The upbeat critical reaction was comparable to the instant enthusiasm that greeted Cape Verdean singer (and now international world music star) Cesaria Evora a few years ago. And with good cause.

IN the middle of singer Susana Baca's sophisticated set of Afro-Peruvian music Tuesday at the Conga Room, a male fan gave a rowdy shout from the dance floor: "¡Que viva el Peru!" His unruly tone burst through the well-behaved crowd as a reminder of the poor-man's roots of this bluesy music, cultivated by the descendants of slaves in the black barrios of Lima, like the one where Baca was raised.

In this village that still bears the name of the old Santa Barbara sugar plantation, Susana Baca is trudging through a field of sweet potatoes. Not 48 hours earlier, the internationally acclaimed diva of Afro-Peruvian music returned from Paris, the last stop in her latest world tour. But on this day, she is visiting her mother's tumbledown hometown, a neglected part of Peru that is the cradle of its multiethnic history, where the descendants of black slaves and Chinese and Japanese field hands have lived together for generations, intermarried and even now continue to work the land.

IN the middle of singer Susana Baca's sophisticated set of Afro-Peruvian music Tuesday at the Conga Room, a male fan gave a rowdy shout from the dance floor: "¡Que viva el Peru!" His unruly tone burst through the well-behaved crowd as a reminder of the poor-man's roots of this bluesy music, cultivated by the descendants of slaves in the black barrios of Lima, like the one where Baca was raised.

For years, fans of quality Latin American popular music have been awaiting the arrival of an artist who could join the legends of the genre--somebody able to make a resonant artistic statement as Agustin Lara, Silvio Rodriguez and Mercedes Sosa did in decades past. A new name can finally be added to that select list: Susana Baca.

The expectations were high for Peruvian singer Susana Baca's Los Angeles debut Thursday at LunaPark. Critically praised during a brief tour of New York and Miami in 1995, her appearance here supported her first U.S. solo album, "Susana Baca" on Luaka Bop Records. And she delivered on all counts. A slender, smiling woman with a sweet voice and an innate rhythmic strength, she sang a program devoted mostly to songs from the album, backed by a four-piece ensemble. Some numbers were familiar.

* Tickets go on sale Saturday for Rage Against the Machine's, above, Dec. 19 concert at the Forum. . . . Tickets will also be available for a series of Counting Crows shows at the Wiltern Theatre, Dec. 6, 9 and 10. . . . Andy Prieboy's "White Trash Wins Lotto" has a return engagement at the Roxy, Dec. 8-10. Tickets go on sale Saturday for those dates, as well as for a Dec. 12 Roxy show by Ranking Roger featuring members of Fishbone, the Untouchables and the Urge. . . .

Her bare, cinnamon-colored feet stepping softly on the stage of the Knitting Factory on Thursday, Susana Baca began her emotional show Thursday with "Toro Mata," the anthem of Afro-Peruvian music. A lot has happened since this classic tune was featured on Luaka Bop's 1995 compilation album "The Soul of Black Peru."

For years, fans of quality Latin American popular music have been awaiting the arrival of an artist who could join the legends of the genre--somebody able to make a resonant artistic statement as Agustin Lara, Silvio Rodriguez and Mercedes Sosa did in decades past. A new name can finally be added to that select list: Susana Baca.

September 21, 1997 | Don Heckman, Don Heckman writes about pop and jazz for The Times

Susana Baca, unheralded and largely unknown outside her native Peru, arrived on the international world music scene with startling suddenness. Her performance on the 1995 compilation album "The Soul of Black Peru" created an immediate buzz. The upbeat critical reaction was comparable to the instant enthusiasm that greeted Cape Verdean singer (and now international world music star) Cesaria Evora a few years ago. And with good cause.

Los Super Seven's second album begins with a gutsy choice, as if the collective wanted you to know right away that this second effort functions on an altogether different level from its Grammy-winning debut. Performing Ernesto Lecuona's "Siboney," one of Cuba's most revered classics, is the kind of challenge that separates the men from the boys. Los Super Seven's flawless rendition exudes the solemn mood of a religious ritual.

Singer Susana Baca has a three-part persona: mature mistress, nurturing mother and good-humored sister. Her dark eyes sparkle with warmth and zest, her sensuous dancing can conjure a thousand spirits, and her voice, hot and pure, could heal the most defeated of souls. This middle-aged Peruvian puts to shame the ubiquitous pop starlets who base their careers on glamorous magazine covers and carefully lit videos.